RARE collection of forty papers on Caesarea Maritima (also Caesarea Palestinae) - the city and harbor that were built under Herod the Great during c.22-10 BC near the site of a former Phoenician naval station known as Stratonos pyrgos, and later became the provincial capital of Roman Judea, Roman Syria Palaestina and Byzantine Palaestina Prima provinces. Populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries CE, the city became an important early center of Christianity during the Byzantine period, but was mostly abandoned following the Muslim conquest of 640, until the the Crusaders re-fortified it, and finally slighted by the Mamluks in 1265. SIGNED BY EDITOR WITH DEDICATION dated 7/20/97. The editor - Prof. Kenneth G. Holum, is a renowned specialist in Late Antiquity and the archaeology and history of Greek and Roman cities, since 1989 the director of the Combined Caesarea Expeditions, an international archaeological project that explores Caesarea Maritima. He is the author of many books, among them `Theodosian Empresses` on imperial women in Late Antiquity, `King Herod`s Dream` on the antiquities of Caesarea, and editor of two large collections of reports and essays on Caesarea, as well as many scholarly articles and archaeological reports. He has also consulted on four films on Caesarea and currently is writing a monograph on Caesarea entitled `Caesarea`s Fortune`. Contains a large fold-out plan of Herodian Caesaria. 290x225mm. XLIV+694 pages. Dark-blue cloth Hardcover with illustrated dust-jacket. Gilt front cover and spine. Jacket rubbed. Jacket, cover and spine edges and corners bumped. Editor`s dedication on title-page. Some pages upper corner slightly bumped/wrinkled. [SUMMARY]: This large collection of papers on the archaeology and history of a fascinating ancient Roman city by the leading authorities in the field is otherwise in good condition.